Inside Diane von Furstenberg’s Lunch Honoring Female Oscar Nominees

In the week leading up to the Academy Awards, there are all sorts of events and parties for the nominees to attend. One such lunch was hosted by fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, Vanity Fair reports. The creator of the wrap dress co-hosted her third annual Oscar luncheon with the chairwoman of Universal Pictures, Donna Langley. In attendance were previous best actress and best supporting actress winners Marisa Tomei,Patricia Arquette, and Ellen Burstyn, as well as current best supporting actress nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh.

There are 11 more female nominees this year than there were last year, but according to Furstenberg that’s not enough. “Clearly we have a lot of work to do in getting more women’s stories on-screen and more women directors and screenwriters and set designers,” she said. “The first thing that we can do to empower more women, though, is to believe in ourselves and make it happen.” She also encouraged Langley to tell big studios to greenlight more projects spearheaded by females. Check out a few images of the event below.